Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump took a quick moment in Michigan on Tuesday to visit the men and women who serve at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, promising to infuse their facility with new aircraft and technology, while also touting his administration’s work to protect and defend America.
“This is an exciting time for the United States military,” Trump told the guardsmen and women assembled to hear the president speak.
He praised the high recruitment numbers for every branch of the U.S. military, which he said was the “highest that it’s been in 39 years.”
“Hold onto those jobs or somebody will take them,” he joked.
The president also spoke briefly about his work on building a state-of-the-art missile defense shield, reminiscent of Israel’s famed Iron Dome, which has protected them from many enemy missile strikes.
“It’s going to be incredible – the latest and greatest,” he said.
He also noted that “a lot of it’s going to be made in Michigan.”
President Trump said he would like to call the shield the “Golden Dome,” and jokingly took an ad-hoc poll from the crowd to gauge whether the name was more popular than “Iron Dome.”
Based on the crowd’s response, it appears that Golden Dome was the clear winner, which drew a smile from the president.
“America’s military will soon be stronger and more powerful than ever before,” he promised, vowing that Selfridge would “remain at the center of the action.”
At the conclusion of the short event, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also offered a few comments, addressing the high recruitment numbers, expressing gratitude for Trump’s leadership.
“We have a Commander-in-Chief who has our back, and he has the back of this base, as well,” he said.
